A leading Massachusetts state lawmaker suggested fixing the state’s transportation problems by hiking the fuel tax and adding tolls, local media reported.

Transportation Chairman Joseph Wagner, D-Chicopee, floated the idea of new tolls and a fuel tax hike June 1 as he unveiled a House plan to reorganize state transportation agencies.

He said alternative sources of funding – including tolls, perhaps on Interstate 93 north of Boston or Route 3 south of Boston – is essential to meeting the state’s growing transportation needs.

The House plan would create a finance council to look at how to fund transportation-related projects, and expand the authority of the state Transportation Department for a more coordinated approach.

Gov. Mitt Romney has advocated merging the Massachusetts Highway Administration and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

New taxes and tolls are not included in the House plan, but Wagner said they should be considered as a way of combating the state’s backlog of highway expansions, road repairs and crumbling bridges, The Associated Press reported.

“Let’s be honest about something. We don’t have the ability to finance all the unmet needs which exist at present in the commonwealth,” Wagner said. “So what I suggest we do is think outside the box.”

Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Daniel Grabauskas told The Boston Globe that the governor is opposed to any increase in fuel taxes. But Grabauskas said he was studying high-occupancy toll lanes, where motorists pay for the privilege of using a dedicated lane at rush hour.